Mar 14, 2017
5 Rare Tips to Become A Confident Public Speaker.
Whether you want to take speaking as a career or not, one day you will have to stand before people to talk. To some, the thought of standing before people and talk scares them to death. There is abundant literature on the fear of public speaking, which some have said to be next to the fear of death. We
While speaking comes naturally to some people, the majority of people have got to learn and master this essential quality of personal and professional success. Your ability to stand up and speak either for yourself or your organization is the most important skill you should strive to cultivate. And I can tell you that you can do it.
I remember the first time I spoke before a group of 15 people, it was terrible! I was supposed to speak for 30minutes but I ran out of words 15minutes ahead of time. That was about 20years ago, today I have honed my skills. Though I’m still learning, but I have improved far from where I started years ago. I have had opportunities to speak before University students, Professors, Bankers, entrepreneurs and being on Radio and Television. I have moved from a timid speaker to confident, calm, organized and articulate speaker today. You too can.
I have outlined these 5 essential tips that will enable you to become a more confident speaker. Let’s look at them:
1.Relax Completely.
This is not a do or die contest! You are here to speak and that is all. The truth is that your audience wants you to succeed and not to fail. Don’t focus on failure, focus on success. It’s true that you might experience the emotion of fear before you stand up to speak, you are not alone. There is no speaker either big or small who is completely free from negative emotions of standing before people. That you should keep at the back of your mind. So relax. As you walk on stage, put on a big smile, spread your eyes around the room for a few seconds before making your first statement. That way, you will portray confidence and Identify with your audience. You can start with a joke to ease tension and set the atmosphere right for your speech. Taking deep breaths will calm your nerves, and you should pause and breathe deeply after you make a point. Talk as if you were with a group of friends in a large room.
READ RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Ways To Overcome Fear of Public Speaking
2. Be Yourself.
The bad thing about a photocopy is that people prefer the original! Be yourself. Talk like yourself. Sound like yourself. Act like yourself. Dress like yourself. You will have to learn from other speakers, but don’t lose your own personality. Let your personality come out through your speech. Even in formal meetings, don’t take yourself too seriously. If they have invited you to talk, they need YOU to talk. They want to hear you not another person speaking through you. So learn to be yourself and be comfortable with it.
3. Be Enthusiastic About Your Topic.
Enthusiasm is contagious. A boring speaker will make a boring speech that will make a boring audience. If you are not excited about your topic, your audience will go to sleep! That is why you need to speak on what you are really interested in. If you want to take public speaking as a career, you need to identify what you are really interested in or passionate about, don’t speak about how to become a computer programmer if you don’t have interest in computer programming. It will wear you and your audience out. Once I was invited by a student body to speak on effective journalism, I politely turned it down because I have no passion for such topic. But there are topics that naturally turn me on, and when I speak on them, I literally set the audience on fire!
4.Prepare and Prepare.
If you failed to prepare, the most cooperating audience will not help you. It’s been said that proper preparation prevents poor performance. Ordinarily, a speaker should prepare always. Why? Because, you may be called to speak at any time. A few months ago, I was invited by galaxy TV(you may want to watch the interview HERE), they called on Thursday and they asked if I could appear on a program the next day.
I live in Ibadan, I have to travel to Lagos to honour the invitation, that left me with little or no time to prepare. I was thinking I would find little time to read when I get to Lagos but I was involved in an accident on my way to Lagos. That night I couldn’t read anything, but I have always been a reader. I attended the program the next morning and I spoke for an hour and it was great. What helped me was the prior preparation. So, I advise you live prepared. As Louis Pasteur once said, “Chance favours the mind that is prepared”
5.Keep it Short and Simple (KISS)
The more you prepare, the easier this point becomes for you. Don’t focus on impressing your audience, focus on expressing yourself. A young man who was about starting up his speaking career went to an elderly man who has been a professional speaker all his life to seek for counsel on how to succeed as a public speaker, the elderly man looked at him and said, “Know what you want to say, keep it simple and don’t use big grammar.” Each time you stand before an audience, don’t forget that piece of advice!
You May also be Interested in : 5 Elements of A Super Presentation
Felix A. Duyilemi is the international best-selling author of “How To Borrow God’s Brain To Succeed”, “The MAGIC of Getting Rich,” and other best-selling books
He helps businesses and individuals craft compelling stories, expand their concepts of possibilities, and dream bigger dreams. His vision is to impact at east 3 billion people for time and eternity
When he’s not learning new concepts, he’s speaking or writing. Reach him at [email protected]
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Great one Sir, I'm challenged by this phrase that says "Live
Prepared" It really said alot to me.
Thanks for your feedbacks
Phenomenal
Am impressed by your kind gestures..thanks for sharing this vItalian
information..we hope to see u soon